The Gender End

by Bella Forrest

  I couldn’t make out the rest, the words lost to the chaos of the entourage stomping by behind her. My eyes watched through the crack as sixteen wardens walked past, and I looked over at Morgan.

  We have to follow her, I said. And she has a lot of guards with her.

  Morgan gave a tired chuckle, shaking her head. Well, good news—Elena is definitely afraid of you. But we can’t take on that many.

  We don’t have to. All we really need is Elena neutralized for a few hours while Alyssa gets the word out. We cloak, follow, and use the dart.

  Morgan stared at me, and then nodded. Your bag—they’ll—

  You’ll have to guide me, I said.

  Her eyes widened, and she stood, quickly tucking a few grenades into the pockets of her suit. It looked odd and bulky, but they would go invisible with her, and she’d still be armed.

  I pulled my bag tight around my shoulders and watched her disappear eerily from view—it never felt any less strange. A moment later, there was a ripple by the door as it was pushed outward. I sat my rifle down and went invisible as well. The bag still showed, and if anyone came up behind me, it would be a dead giveaway. But maybe it would surprise people just enough…

  From around the corner where the retinue couldn’t see my floating backpack, Morgan fed me instructions. I followed, my path surprisingly free of any people. Maybe it was because the queen was moving through, but it was definitely eerie. I could hear her talking ahead, but I couldn’t make out her words as I crept along the corridor, adrenaline pumping in my chest.

  It felt nerve-wracking, just plain wrong. I kept expecting a trap, or somebody coming around the corner, but there was no one. Certainly they had installed thermal cameras. Morgan might be close enough to look like a stray guard in thermals, but if they showed the live footage of the hall at the same time, it would become obvious something was up. The palace had to have noticed by now… So where were they?

  My muscles burned and began to shake as I continued to follow the processional, close enough to hear it, but not so close that I could see it. I knew I didn’t have long before I would have to stop—my stamina for using the suit wasn’t even close to what it had been before my fight with Tabitha. We needed to get there soon, or I was going to give everything away. The people watching the cameras weren’t so incompetent that they’d miss a girl dressed all wrong running around the halls this close to the queen.

  Violet, they’re slowing down. There’s a room off to the right side of the hall, the door slightly open. I’m in there. Morgan’s voice came suddenly, but I felt a wave of relief as I picked up the pace a little. It was risky—once again, the bag was visible—but my control over the suit was going to give out. Soon. The pins and needles in my muscles were being replaced with straight up loose numbness. Never a good sign.

  I kept moving straight, and then stepped into the room. I held my muscles tense for a few seconds more, slowly pushing the door closed but leaving it slightly ajar. I heard Elena’s voice through the crack, still muffled, and then my control gave out.

  I reappeared instantly, my arms and legs burning fiercely as the feeling returned to them. Exhaling, I began shaking my arms and legs out, turning and looking around the room. Morgan appeared behind a wooden desk and looked at me quizzically.

  Are you okay? she mouthed, her voice buzzing through the earbud.

  I should be asking you that question, I replied, wiping my forearm against my forehead and grimacing when it came back slick with sweat.

  Her face was exceptionally pale, right down to her lips, but she didn’t miss a beat as she began pulling objects from her pocket.

  I’m fine. It was a transparent lie, but I understood it. This is the nursery, and we’re right outside the safe room. She’s got Sierra in there.

  And sixteen guards, I reminded her. You want to use the concussive grenade and go in shooting?

  She hesitated. It could work… but we can’t risk Sierra getting hit by the blast.

  I really don’t see any other way, I replied honestly. Do you?

  Morgan hesitated a moment more, and then nodded grimly.

  With my enhancement, I should be able to direct everything away from her. Desmond used to train us for scenarios like this. Just keep an eye out for her, too, please… I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to her.

  I thought of Tim, then of Morgan’s past, and knew what the young woman must be feeling.

  Of course.

  Then we have to move now. She’s got an escape plan, and if she and Sierra manage to get out of here…

  She trailed off, but I could finish her sentence for her: If Elena got out of the palace before we could get to her, then she would win. If she escaped, she could pull back and muster her forces to crush us, using the boys as the final insult and injury all at once. We were running out of resources, and morale was low. There was no way Patrus could mount an offensive sufficient to stop her. This was it.

  Let’s do it, I said, and Morgan nodded. We moved back over to the door, and I began to push it open.

  Then a familiar roar bellowed down the hallway, and I froze before quickly ducking back. Heavy footsteps pounded toward us, and I closed my eyes, praying that the berserk boys from below didn’t have a way of tracking Morgan and me.

  Suddenly the footsteps doubled, and then tripled, and I heard a lower roar sound out as the fast-moving footsteps raced by, a shadow cutting over the crack in the door so fast it looked like a bat hunting insects in front of a lamp, always too fast to clearly spot any discernable features.

  A heartbeat later, gunfire erupted loudly from the next room, and one of the berserkers—if that was what they were—gave a throaty roar of rage. Screams and shouts echoed out amid the gunfire, and Morgan and I ducked as a bullets cut through the wall to the left of us. The bullet holes were several feet away from us, but it was still unnerving enough to make us stay down.

  We stayed like that as the sounds of panic increased, Morgan’s grip on my arm tightening as the altercation gave no sound of stopping.

  Sierra! she transmitted as I turned to look at her.

  She stood suddenly, gun in her hand, and pulled open the door, stepping through and going invisible. I watched for a moment, and then shook away the surprise the boys’ entrance had caused, rising to follow Morgan.

  The gunfire had all but stopped at this point, and as I swung around the corner, I could see why.

  One of the boys was down, blood pooling around him as he twitched on the ground. Another was obviously wounded, but seemingly oblivious to it, as he continuously drove his fists into the pulped remains of a warden’s head. I shuddered and averted my gaze, following Morgan’s footsteps as she moved fast across the wide antechamber, heading for a large metal vault door that hung ajar, as though its hinges had been damaged somehow.

  The still-standing boy almost plowed into me to get to a warden missing a leg and trying to drag herself away, but a different warden lying on the ground just behind him lashed out with a foot, catching him in the back of the knee. He fell, and she leapt off the ground onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing.

  I didn’t want to leave her to face the boy alone or vice versa, but I couldn’t risk her stopping us, so I dodged it all and darted by.

  I’m entering the vault, Morgan announced, and I waited a moment before slipping after her through the crack in the vault door.

  My momentum carried me a few steps forward, into the vault before I had the thought to stop. Morgan was already as still as a statue, suddenly visible, tension radiating off of her like a furnace.

  I could see why she had given up all efforts toward stealth: it wasn’t going to help her here. Elena’s face was impassive as she looked back at us from behind thermal goggles, one hand on a little blonde girl’s shoulder, the other hand pressing a gun to her head. The little girl’s eyes were round with terror, confusion, and pain as she looked around, fighting back tears.

  “Elena, why are you—”
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  “Shut up,” Elena ordered, shaking the young girl by her arm. “And Violet—drop it.”

  “Who are you—” Sierra said, her sentence cutting off as I let go of my control of the suit. Sierra took a cursory glance at me, and then her attention waned, her focus solely on Morgan. “Morgana?” she said uncertainly, staring at the girl next to me. “Why—who—”

  “Sierra,” Morgan breathed. She’d turned her subvocalizer off, and I reached up and did the same. Morgan’s head snapped up to look at Elena. “What do you want?”

  Elena arched an elegant eyebrow, but her expression didn’t change.

  “You really have to ask?” she replied, before looking at me. “Egg.”

  “We didn’t even bring it up from the labs,” Morgan began to lie, and in a fluid motion, Elena moved the gun and pointed, pulling the trigger. The shot went off, and I flinched slightly as something behind me dropped to the floor.

  Looking over my shoulder, I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the still form of one of the berserker boys, his hand outstretched just a few inches from my foot. I turned in time to see Elena smoothly put the gun back to Sierra’s temple, her face never moving a muscle.

  “The egg,” she repeated. “Or I let whatever comes in next tear you apart limb from limb.”

  Morgan turned her gaze toward me, her face configured in a silent plea, but I was already opening my bag. I pulled the silver case out and held it up, and then placed it on a table that separated us from Elena. She watched me, her eyes gleaming with warning as she grabbed Sierra’s hand, jerking her forward. I took a slow, healthy step back, shooting a glance toward the still-open vault, checking for the other berserker.

  Turning back, I realized Elena was staring at the egg. She did that for a long moment, and then blinked, her gaze suddenly returning to me.

  “The key?”

  I glared back at her, irritation at the smug look on her face warring with my concern for the terrified little girl. After a pause, I reached up and tore the chain off my neck. I held the key out, dangling from my fist, and then put it on top of the egg.

  Elena’s lips curled up, and she met my gaze. “Thank you,” she said, her smile growing, and getting crueler, a fraction at a time.

  I realized it had gone very quiet in the room behind me, and turned in time to see the third boy, reaching for Morgan. She leapt suddenly, but it was the wrong direction, and he caught her with his wild, artless blow, low and in the side.

  Morgan went flying through the air, impacting on a bookcase with a thud and sliding to the floor. I followed her trajectory, when a movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention. Turning, I saw Elena moving toward the open door, the egg tucked under one arm, her hand tight on Sierra’s wrist as she dragged the little girl from the room.

  Then the boy stepped in front of me, and I barely had a moment to register his swing. I dodged it without even thinking, and then scrambled back as he pressed the advantage. He swung at me again, and I darted out of his way, barely avoiding blows and well aware of my limited abilities against him.

  “They’re getting away!” Morgan’s voice, rough and out of breath, came desperately through the room.

  I couldn’t shoot him, but I needed to get to Elena, and fast. The gun was still in my hand—Elena had never ordered us to put our weapons down. She had counted on us not wanting to risk Sierra, and had gambled correctly. Yet even though the boy threatened my life, I couldn’t—wouldn’t—pull the trigger.

  A thought occurred to me as I ducked under a wild haymaker, and I sprang forward, rolling between his legs and coming out the other side. I reached into the pocket on my thigh and pulled out a tranquilizer dart—I had just two left, but I only needed one for Elena—and ripped the cap off with my teeth.

  He was turning around to hit me, but I ducked low and jammed the needle into the meaty part of his thigh and then moved away. The young man looked down at the tranquilizer dart, then back up at me as I slowly retreated, his eyes dark and wild with rage. He bared his teeth and snapped at me with a vicious snarl. I moved back more quickly, trying to search for anything I could hit him with while he advanced—one step, two—and then he toppled over, glancing off the table and dragging a chair down with him. It smashed on the floor as he let out a long sigh, his eyes drifting closed.

  I exhaled sharply in relief, and took a moment to collect myself, not even bothering to think about how close I had come to death—again—then rushed over to Morgan. She was already picking herself off the ground, her breaths tight, sharp gasps, her eyes watering.

  “Okay,” she wheezed, swatting my hands away, and I was reminded for a brief moment of Tim. “Did you see where they went?”

  I didn’t have to ask to know that she was talking about her sisters.

  “Out through the back door,” I said, ignoring her hands and helping her up. “I need to check under your vest. You could have internal—”

  “Go,” she said, pushing me roughly before stumbling to one side. “Roof… Left… Straight. Door.”

  “Morgan, I can’t just leave you—”

  “Go.” Her eyes were hard, and the look she gave me promised the harsh side of her anger if I dared to protest.

  She was right, of course, and I turned and went, moving at a fast run and hoping Sierra was throwing the mother of all tantrums and buying me every second I could get. I was going to need it.

  OceanofPDF.com

  40

  OceanofPDF.com

  VIOLET

  Morgan’s instructions were easy enough to follow, but the hall I found myself in was long, and every foot I went made me suddenly doubt whether I had actually followed her directions, wonder if I had already lost Elena. I tried to listen for the sounds of Sierra crying, but they were lost in the general sounds of chaos and gunfire now erupting all over the castle.

  I stopped short as a warden went across the hallway ahead of me, barely sparing me a glance, and then quickly activated the suit when I saw one of those monkey-wolf things chasing after her, terrified it would spot me and distract me from my purpose. It stayed focused on its prey, and I quickly shed the backpack, no longer needing it, and moved forward, willing my aching limbs to keep working with the suit.

  The door to the stairwell finally came into view, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw it. Why, I didn’t know—maybe just at the reassurance that there was still a chance to put an end to this. But the sight didn’t stop that icy hand of fear from suddenly seizing my heart, or the wave of panic that threatened to overwhelm me as I reached for the handle.

  I couldn’t deal with those emotions right now, so I ignored them both as I yanked the door open and hurried up the concrete steps that led to the roof.

  A wave of déjà vu struck me hard as I emerged out in the open. This was where Lee had landed, right before he had killed Queen Rina and Mr. Jenks and tried to leave me behind. Did things always have to end here?

  Not much had changed, and I could see the heloship docked a few hundred feet away, its running lights spilling out onto the dark rooftop. Elena was already dangerously close to it, ready to take off into the starry night beyond and turn this mission into a failure. Neither Sierra nor the egg was with her—had she already loaded them up? How long had I been following her? It felt like it had taken ages to find her, but it had probably only been a few minutes.

  The full moon had sunk significantly since our drive through the city, now it hovering near the horizon, but with the moonlight and the small spotlights that occasionally lit up the edges of objects on the roof, I could see a small group of black-clad figures waiting between Elena and the heloship. Most were shorter, younger, but there were a few taller figures interspersed between them. They stood at the ready, masked faces watching as Elena approached.

  I started to run, knowing I was making noise but hoping they wouldn’t hear me until it was too late. If I could just reach Elena, then I could take her out. Hopefully the boys wouldn’t attack me without an order. I just h
ad to reach her.

  I focused on Elena as I moved, somehow managing to keep my muscles tensed for the suit, when one of the boys stepped up to the queen, pointing in my general direction. The next moment I recognized the strange protrusions from his mask as thermal goggles, and my heart sank as Elena turned in my direction, her own goggles pulled back over her head. Her mouth moved.

  An instant later a boy was in front of me. I reached for my gun, knowing I’d never reach it in time, and something hard slammed into me, sending me flying a few feet across the roof. I landed roughly on my back, muscle memory causing me to slap the ground with my hands and tuck my chin to my chest, breaking the fall and protecting my spine. My control over the suit went out immediately, and the fire that filled my limbs just added to the pain of the blow.

  I rolled several feet, sharp pebbles and stones tearing at my suit and skin underneath, scraping me. My adrenaline was pumping too fiercely for me to black out, and I climbed back onto my feet, watching the two boys staying warily close and blocking my way to Elena, keeping just out of fist-reach.

  One of the boys moved again, really just a blur, and I dove to the right. I was too slow, and he caught me midair, slamming my legs down. The roof whirled around me, and I slid to the ground.

  My hip throbbed, and I groaned, managing to somehow climb into a sitting position, but I found myself leaning against a cobblestone chimney. I grabbed the edge, hauling myself up.

  I barely had my feet under me when a strong hand gripped the back of my neck, squeezing hard and hauling me the rest of the way up.

  Roughly, the hand pushed me forward between the two boys, barely keeping me steady as I tripped over my own feet, reeling.

  “Stop playing with her and bring her over!” Elena shouted.

  Immediately I was pushed forward. I glanced over my shoulder to see the tall boy behind me, his eyes dark and unreadable through the holes of the mask. He propelled me closer to Elena, and I used the momentum to weaken his hold, my hand going for my gun while I distracted him with my struggling.